In 1665, at the request signed on behalf of all the residents of Sudzha by Mark Buchenko and Kondrat Ivanov with associates, permission was granted to build a cathedral church in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary with chapels in honor of Saint Alexius, a man of God, and Nicholas the Wonderworker. Metropolitan Paul of Saransk and Podonsk blessed the construction, entrusting it to Protopope Erofei Ivanov. However, due to a lack of funds, the construction was completed only in 1667.

The construction book of Sudzha from 1665 mentions two churches in the Big City: the cathedral church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the chapel of Nicholas the Wonderworker and the church of Archangel Michael. The document does not specify whether they were completed. The book also describes the suburban settlements and their churches: the church of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary beyond the Moscow Gates, the church of the Ascension of the Lord near the Sumy Tower, and the church of the Transfiguration of the Lord across the Sudzha River. The settlements had many yards, but not everywhere were there churches.

In 1667, at the request signed by Protopope Erofei Ivanov and Ataman Avraam Lukyanov with associates, a herald bell and the Cathedral Statute were sent to Sudzha.

On October 10, 1668, the Sudzha voivode Yatskov informed the tsar about the completion of the city and cathedral church construction. He noted that the city was built by the residents of Sudzha and Cherkasy.

In the petition from the 'Sudzha Cherkasy' by Lukyan Danilov and Ivan Lazarev, the difficulties of constructing the fortress are described: they carried timber on their backs, dug the earth in the frost, endured hunger and need. During this time, they did not receive wages, unlike other cities built by state workers. They asked the sovereign to reward them for their service and construction.

With the completion of the construction and a wooden model of the fortress, the residents of Sudzha Anisim Sukhanov, Gordey Semyonov, Fyodor Yakovlev, and Cherkasy Lukyan Danilov, Ivan Lazarev, and Abram Lukyanov went to Moscow. On October 22, 1668, for their labor, the sovereign ordered them to be rewarded with money and released from Moscow, entrusting Mikifor Yatskov to commend them for their service and construction.